On my 8 month old male...noticed it 2 nites ago..not bloody or painful and last nite (this photo) almost twice as big....it is dry and certainly not self inflicted...he lives with 3 others with NO signs of fighting ever...the others appear intact...thanks

That's right in the general area of where mating wounds are found. Who are his cage companions & what are their ages? When you say the other's appear intact - are you referring to non neutered males? It is possible the intact males are forcing themselves on this little one, even neutered males will do this.

I'd separate him atleast until it heals- you'd said it's gotten bigger- so he obviously is a target in someway. Whatever someone has done to him this is a repeat action over the last few days. It may be best not to put him back with this group.

Deffinately seperate him.

Maybe call a vet just to see what they say.

I would take him to the vet. He will need some antibiotics to help prevent infection and also some pain meds. He will need to be seperated from the others until completely healed and the fur has started to regrow. If you leave him with the others, they will continue to "groom" the wound making it so much worse.

It looks like a mating wound which can be inflicted on any glider when a more dominant glider is asserting his/her position within the colony. (they don't have to actually be mating to receive a mating wound, hence why it can happen to males by other males or even a female with only female cage mates).

How old is he and how old and what sex are his cage mates? Is he intact and is he in with other intact males?

My male glider had the same thing. At first it was only a bald spot. Then one day it turned into a deep sore. I took him to the vet and he said it was all the way to his scapula. He had stitches and healed nicely at first. Now he is scratching at it. I dont know how it is ever going to heal. You need to remove him from the group ASAP. Take him to the vet so they can clean it out and give you meds. If you leave him with the group it will all of a sudden be a very deep gross hole. Good luck. I am still dealing with my gliders wound. Very sad. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worried2.gif" alt="" />

I just seperate him and his sister...just for company...hope I dont have a problem re-introducing him to the family (including dad) tomorrow or so...

gliders don't usually have trouble rejoining from a small separation. When you do rejoin them- if this happens again-I would pull him for good- someone in that group will eventually kill him. I saw it first hand where a dad killed one of his own and then a few months later killed another. These were not young joeys.

this just doesnt look like a bite....only happened 2 days ago and no sign of skin puncture OR bleeding or pain..he acts fine and no family history of squabbles..thanks for the advice tho

Mating wounds do not look like bites. The bad ones look like large long slices.

As for why this is happening it is probably something to do with the make-up of your family unit. As your youngest mature and get older the older ones feel more insecure as the dominant gliders in the pack and things like this can happen.

You should have this boy absolutely ALONE because his sister could do a lot of damage to his wound by trying to clean it for him. this is probably how the small wound became a bigger wound so quickly. If you've ever been groomed by your gliders you know that it could do damage to an open wound.

Are your males all neutered? If they are then you may need to seperate your colony into pairs. If you are having dominance issues when they are neutered then they probably won't ever go away. And even if you are not hearing them fight it doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

First you need to seperate your injured male to a cage alone. Then you need to get him to a vet and on antibiotics and that wound cleaned up. Then it'll probably take a month or so for it to heal up that he needs to stay seperated. Then you'll have to decide either put someone in with him or put him back in with the family.

They will not forget him, you can leave the cages beside each other so they remember each other if you are concerned.

I hope this helps.

yes....both males are neutered...I will seperate him until vet diagnoses the problem..thanks

ya know i would take him to the vet, to make sure of what it is if you're still questioning it!, maybe it could be a sist or something other than a grooming bite or domince issue. eighter way it's still a good thing to get him in and have it looked at if you are worried and it's gotton bigger! It never hurts to be safer than sorry! good luck and hope your little one gets better! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I isolated him yesterday about noon and last nite it looked quite a bit better....this morning it has shrunk to about 10-20% of what it was. I am a physician and know about infections, etc. This does not resemble an infection, but a wound with ? etiology that apparently was kept aggravated by overgrooming by his family....it is a very small dry place (scab) that has almost no inflammation anymore. Probably 1 week in isolation will do it...I am spending alot of 1 on 1 with him since his is an isolated prisoner who is VERY social...feel bad for the lil guy

cool glad to hear he's doing better <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />